Running Pace

After having suffered some shin splints (severe pain) and stress fractures (not so severe) a few years back, I decided I wanted to make sure I could run for more years, rather than trying to run more miles or at a faster pace. Having said that, I still have a bit of a competetive strain. I don't really keep track of my pace, but every once in a while I will run with my ipod, which has several playlists designed for running. The playlists tell me how long they are, and I know my distance (thanks to favoriterun.com), so I can calculate my pace.

So last week, I ran with the ipod. I am running at a pace of 8.7 mph, which is pretty much where I was a year or so ago, when I was regularly running to playlists. I should be satisfied with this, but wonder whether I should have improved in the last year. As someone who wants to do better and better, it's not always easy to deal with the fact that I probably won't get much faster or run much longer -- or will hurt myself if I try to -- and that's OK because it will (hopefully) help me to keep running as I get older.